This is a new section to the site. We will be posting different articles regarding our martial arts training. These articles are meant to help better your understanding of certain parts of our Kung Fu, Modern Arnis, or Tai Chi teachings.

NEW ARTICLE "One Step Sparring Vs. Free Sparring"

"HAND WORK TRAINING THEORY"

STANCE TRAINING by Sifu David Ng

There are many important fundamentals of Kung-fu. We could talk about kicks, striking, handwork, sensitivity, weapons, technique, etc.. But none of this would be any good without stance training. This may seem boring to many students especially boring and trivial when that is all you do for the first week or two when you join a school. This is one aspect of martial arts (any style) that can be overlooked by beginning and advanced students. We must look at the human body like any else in this world. We adhere to laws of physics and gravity. Physically, we must have a strong foundation and develop this by strengthening the legs and torso. Low Horse stance training is the most basic method. This teaches us to develop the ability to have a low center of gravity, thus giving stability to the body. This does not mean you always use a low stance, but rather you have the ability and versatility to use this tool in your fighting art. Transitional Stance work is the next step for developing the legs. One should begin learning different stances. Of course many styles use many different named stances, but generally they tend to be very similar. This gives us strength, stability, and versatility in movement. Train these stances individually and then in grouped sets, one after another. In the end, you start developing footwork and posture theory, and start to break away from the static theory of stance work. You learn stability and mobility. In Five animals Kung-fu Theory, both of these aspects are important. Whether you are attacking or defending…look at how the animals use their foundation to enhance their fighting technique. And in kung-fu fighting you develop versatility in different situations with good footwork and stance. From standing to ground fighting / grappling, you must have good stance / footwork / base theory. Outside of Martial Arts, these same principals apply. Take any sport, football, basketball, baseball, soccer, etc., they all must have a strong stance/footwork emphasis. I remember my firearms and defensive tactics trainers in the Police Academy emphasizing stance training in shooting and also in your defensive posture during your investigations and interviews. Stance is an important factor for us all.